PUTTING THE “FRESH” TO THE TEST

Remember about a week or so ago I told you all about the gourmet food service Freshly* and how I was going to offer myself up as a human “guinea pig” to test out their service… and in the process spare myself seven whole days of cooking?

We should all be so lucky to not have to cook, right?

Well, I’m happy to say “test concluded.” And here’s how it all went down.

For starters, I got to go to Freshly’s website and select my grub from their on-line menu. Clickety-click and it was done. BTW, you can check out their current menu listings here: FRESHLY MENU.

Again my meal plan was the “Freshly Fit,” which included 21 meals (7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 7 dinners). Here’s what I chose:

BREAKFASTS

Meat Lover’s Omelette

Roasted Red Pepper & Zucchini Egg White Frittata

Denver Omelette

Greek Yogurt with Berries & Nuts

Sausage & Veggie Scramble

Ham & Cheddar Omelette

Broccoli & Bacon Frittata

LUNCHES

Chicken Burrito Bowl

Asian Beef & Broccoli

Mediterranean Chicken & Quinoa Bowl

Turkey Chili

Chicken and Green Chili Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Greek Chicken Bowl

Philly Cheesesteak

DINNERS

Country “Fried” Chicken w/Pureed Sweet Potatoes

Bacon Cheeseburger w/Sweet Potato Strips

Chicken Peppercorn w/Roasted Carrots

Carnitas & Green Chile Sauce w/Pinto Beans

French Onion Steak w/Green Beans

Lemon Garlic Salmon w/Roasted Peppers & Broccoli

Grilled BBQ Chicken w/Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Let me break the rest o’ the test down by sections.

DELIVERY

Box in the house!

The Freshly Fit plan was so big I actually go two deliveries (one Tuesday and one Thursday). Each time there was a knock on my door and I was handed a big ole box. No muss or fuss.

Now for those of you worrying about food spoiling in transit… don’t. The food comes in a refrigerated box packed tightly with both gel packs and dry ice to keep it nice and chilled until you open the box. You can check out their shipping policy here: FRESHLY SHIPPING INFO.

Great, so I’ve got the food. What next?

PREPARATION

Easy peasy~

When they say easy, they mean easy. Let me tell you the detailed process involved with cooking up one of their meals.

Take it out of the fridge.

Poke a hole or two in the plastic cover (if it’s a meal you heat up).

Put it in the microwave.

Hit “Start.”

Hum to yourself for 2 minutes (or check your FB status).

Eat. (Oh, you might want to take it out of the microwave first).

That’s it. Seriously.

If you can nuke a Hot Pocket, then you’ve got all of the necessary skills to enjoy their food.

QUANTITY

Food for thought… and eating.

When I signed up to demo the food, this had me the most concerned. While I’m not someone who can chow down a colossal 72oz steak with all of the trimmings in an hour, I do have a rather hearty appetite. How were these meals going to satisfy someone who could easily eat 2 regular TV dinners?

Surprisingly, I was usually pretty darn full.

On occasion I did add a small green salad, to top things up, but I never walked away hungry.

And if you’re closely following Freshly’s plan, they do also talk about approved snacks that won’t impact your results, like:

Hardboiled eggs

Cheese

Nuts

Deli meats

Avocado

Now the meals are not designed to fill you up to the point that you’re popping buttons on your pants like a Thanksgiving free-for-all. But for the average person, you’re going to be fine.

TASTE

Now all of this pre-amble means exactly diddly-squat if the food isn’t any good, right?

*Table plants not included.

We’ve all seen those supermarket TV dinners that look great on the box, but when you prepare them it’s just a horror show for your tastebuds.

So let’s answer the biggest question. How does the food from Freshly taste?

Good. Real good in fact. I enjoyed each of the meals.

Now some I did like better than others, but that comes down more to personal preference. The most surprising one was the Mediterranean Chicken & Quinoa Bowl. It barely made my cut on the menu and turned out to be one of my favorite dishes of them all. Go figure.

ANY PROBLEMS?

Greeking out the yogurt.

Actually, I did have one hiccup. When my second box arrived, a trio of the meals had their packaging pierced. It seemed the box was damaged in transit (stuff happens). All I had to do was fire off an e-mail (you can also call their toll-free number) and it was resolved without any hassle. I was sent out replacements within a few days (they also can credit your account).

The Freshly rep told me how they pride themselves on customer service, which is always good to hear. And it makes sense, because an unhappy customer is an ex-customer. You can read about their policy here: Freshly Customer Satisfaction Guarantee.

RECOMMENDATION

As a whole, I was quite pleased with Freshly. They basically made good on their promises. Ordering the food was simple, preparation was “stupid easy” and best of all, it tasted good (and I didn’t resort to cannibalism a single time).

I’m planning on continuing with Freshly… oh, and my girlfriend is also signing up too (of course she tried some of my food).

As for choosing a plan, I certainly can see the merits of the Freshly Fit plan (21 meals per week). It would certainly make it easy to eat healthy consistently and save a bunch of time at the grocery store and in the kitchen.

My life though is inherently unpredictable and I’m not certain where I’m going to be day in and day out (the joy of the entertainment biz). So I’ll probably be opting for their “Flex 9” or “Flex 6” plans.

WANNA GIVE IT A TRY?

Does it tempt your tummy?

Now while Freshly worked out for me, only you can decide if it’s right for you.

What I can do though is help you test it out without too much risk. Actually I can cut that risk right in two.

The Freshly folks gave me a code to pass on to readers for 50% off a week of any of their plans. When you do the math, it factors out to less than $6 a meal. Not too shabby.

Just type in: trippingthekenyans under the promo code.

You’ve read my opinion. The rest is up to you.

Dig in… and Run on!

* As I mentioned before, transparency is important to me. I was allowed to demo a week’s worth of meals from Freshly free of charge in exchange for giving my review on what I thought of their service.